Chocolatey: A Windows Package Manager?

[@88Elzee]

Good lord how did I not know about this?!?! Videos like this are why you guys are my favorite tech channel!!

[@steveballmer2294]

Engagement! Engagement! Engagement! Engagement!

[@JarrodsTech]

Oh sweet, thanks for the launchy tip, the start menu in win 10 is a dumpster fire 🔥🗑

[@Atemu12]

Jarrod'sTech Also give classic-shell a try, it brings back the Win7 start menu in a very nice way imo.

[@JarrodsTech]

Ah yeah I think I've seen that one before, if I recall it was popular in the early Windows 8 days when they had completely killed off the start button.

[@JarrodsTech]

For me, it literally does not work at all / serve the purpose I use it for, which is hitting the windows key on the keyboard, and typing what I want to come up, the search functionality is just beyond broken, so I cannot use it. I don't really mind the layout, but I'm not going to spend the time to manually lay out all my stuff or search through it manually each time I need something, I just want to start typing something and have it appear, but this only seems to work 1% of the time in Windows 10 for me, at least that's my experience so far. If anything I guess it's just habit because I've always done it that way in other versions of Windows, and just seems weird that the basic search functionality is so broken.

[@captapraelium1591]

Classic shell was discontinued. Still works, for now. When it dies, the only open source alternative is Power8. It's been updated recently so might be worth a try.

[@DxBlack]

Oh, so it's a dumpster fire because it doesn't work the way you're used to it working in Windows 7... Ok. >_>

[@Rod_Knee]

"A Ryzen 5 lifts all boats" - genius.

[@CurtPottorff]

It may not be fair, but at least you still have your glasses!

[@myew]

👌

[@Delcolux]

Thanks for the hint. Couldn't quite figure out what that was supposed to be till I read your comment.

[@sodomousprime]

Yes lord Wendell, I shall express my smugness for being a linux user.

[@hypolyxa7207]

Time to twirl some mustaches and drink cognac!

[@kkeanie]

Me right now while drinking tea. >

[@CelmorSmith]

Good to see you show of Chocolatey, been using it for years now. About settings, the best method I've found to keep your desired configuration is to record changes as registry keys, group policies or PS commands. Every time I'm setting up Windows I log all commands or changes I do so I can re-produce the same setup. PS: gotta love it when booting Windows and trying to get work done and the first thing it does is wasting your time while it's updating.

[@mykalcook]

AHK would probably save you some time over that . . .

[@filemot25]

Small tip; there's a shorthand for installing and auto accepting agreements, eg. - cinst -y launchy

[@DemitriX.]

Ive used Ninite for years on fresh installs, noticed someone mentioning this chocolatey in the comments on another video, and now i see you've been spreading the word :) Will definitely try it out

[@Mireaze]

Wendel's surface book died as I got mine. Did my one steal his' soul?

[@dragonheadthing]

Loved that bit at the end.

[@Atemu12]

Been using Choco for multiple windows installations now and everything you said in your video exactly describes my experience with it, well done!

[@ZovcDrafts]

This video is excellent, and I'm really looking forward to the future entries. Thanks for the heads up and all the tips!

[@devleadse]

Chocolatey is really the best thing since sliced bread, saves so much time setting up my developer machines 👍

[@VezWay007]

Doesn't ninite update all the apps in the executable file if they're already installed? If so, would it be possible to have a script run it during start up/any set time and/or with a macro command?

[@X3h0n]

Yes it does, yes it is

[@AugustusBohn0]

10:35

[@VezWay007]

Augustus Bohn he does discuss about it. And that's where I got my question because he said "it just installs and then forget about it" but it also can be used to update the apps

[@wobblysauce]

Use Ninite to install, and then let the programs handle there own.

[@fitlikeaglove7396]

Yeah ninite is my go to. Installs a good amount of apps that a new install needs and can keep them up to date later on.

[@MortalisPT]

I use Chocolatey for 4 years, the time it saves on me is massive

[@dom1310df]

On my old laptop I had the Ninite installer configured to run weekly. It then downloaded and installed updated versions automatically if they are available. Forgot how to do it, though.

[@RazorSkinned86]

Omfg, finally Wendell does a video on Chocolatey!!! This makes Windows 10 so much more useable! Also being able to just execute a pkg update command is just wonderful. *insert full REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE here*

[@hammer86_]

Looks like Choco has come a long way since I looked at it several years ago in its early days. Back then all it did was download the installer and run it with default options. I've been using mys2, which comes with the pacman package manager from Arch. It's nice, especially for libraries, but it doesn't have nearly as much stuff as Choco. Edit: the lack of package signing is a serious omission.

[@GaryEwanPark]

Package signing is something that is on the roadmap for Chocolatey, so keep an eye out for it. In the meantime, all packages submitting to Chocolatey.org go through a fairly rigorous moderation process, including submitting all package contents (including installers that are downloaded) to VirusTotal, where they are scanned with between 60-70 different virus scanners.

[@leotrost904]

We actually tinkered with Chocolatey scripts in the enterprise, updating and installing apps across entire domains, thousands of computers running these scripts. We ended up going with Ninte Pro for our needs, but it was a super cool project.

[@leotrost904]

And, our needs, aka windows GUI-only admins confused about this Linuxy tomfoolery... Imo enterprise chocolatey was a far better implementation.

[@James-cd8ih]

That Twilight Zone joke at the end was amazing xD

[@bryanwithawhy]

Love the black and white ending! Definitely not fair!

[@RazorSkinned86]

Wendell, amazing dialogue/script for this video! Witty and informative!

[@AtticusHimself]

Is there a way to package together different packages, as a Chocolatey user, and then have the ability to install all of those packages with one line by referencing that one mother-package? e.g. "mother-package = firefox, git, launchy, vlc", "choco install mother-package" "Firefox, Git, Launchy and VLC have been successfully installed"

[@GaryEwanPark]

Yes, this is definitely possible. You can either do something like choco install firefox git lanuchy vlc, or you can generate a packages.config file which contains all the applications that you want to install, and then you can run choco install packages.config

[@0M9H4X_Neckbeard]

lol that is called a "Variable" my friend, and all shell languages have them. In PowerShell for example: $packages = 'firefox git launchy vlc'

[@AtticusHimself]

But my example wasn't meant as the practical usage I was after, 0M9H4X. I was thinking about an online-stored, user-bound config file, or local, which seems to be the case as Gary said.

[@AtticusHimself]

The idea being; if my computer needs reformatting, I'd like to be able to install all my favourite apps via Chocolatey, with one line of code (pretty much), without having to stop and think what programs are my favourite, or risk forgetting one, etc. Simply declaring a variable isn't the solution, that's just circling back to where you were, an easier, more useful solution is aforementioned config file.

[@GaryEwanPark]

Yip, what I was describing is what I think you want. i.e. you store that list of programs somewhere "else", or the keep the packages.config file stored somewhere "else", then, when you need to re-pave your computer, you have a single command that you can use to get all your packages installed again.

[@wreckervilla]

Anyone notice that youtube is spitting out ads that don't show the skip button, even though they're skippable ads?

[@tin2001]

FinalCPU I was getting that for a while about 18 months back. Close and reload to get a new ad, and it usually comes up right on the 2nd go.

[@coolnamesTV]

really enjoyed this video, thanks!

[@thepeakoflife]

4:59 WHAT SCRIPT I MUST KNOW!

[@craigleemehan]

After dabbling in various Linux distros and being overwhelmed , Windows 10 pushed me hard into Linux, and I have never looked back. I even converted my wife's laptop over and she has done fine with LibreOffice and Thunderbird.

[@ryankersh6639]

My go-to for setting up a new windows machine: Boxstarter & Chocolatey

[@shanealvarez527]

+1 for the launchy tip, I've already been using an recommending chocolatey at my university, it really is a time saver. Another quirk on chocolatey is that some packages aren't being properly maintained, but that goes for other package managers as well. If you have any other package recommendations though, I'd love to hear them

[@TheMemcon]

Would love to see a multi-computer management tutorial with Chocolatey and Ansible on the Enterprise Channel.

[@akaltar]

With ninite if you want to update all your apps, all you have to do is run the installer again. While thats still suboptimal, it can still do it in the free version.

[@kgrach]

Love the twilight zone homage at the end, even though I don't think many of your viewers are old enough to get the reference.

[@AlexChama]

Oh God, you must be my soulmate. I sometimes feel like the only person caring for setting every toggle and every switch and reading about fun about:config tricks and registry entries... Formatting and re-installing? That's my IT nightmare, especially since I don't even remember everything that I set up sometimes many many moons ago. I recently started actually logging changes like application paths (where they store their data, like libraries) and settings and all that, but it's just a first step to being less dependent on backups gracefully restoring whenever it may be needed in the future.

[@danielho5635]

My two greatest tools to setup Windows PCs are: 1. WSUS Offline Update and 2. Chocolatey (I've been a computer tech for 30+ yrs). Thx for the video.

[@erichvonmaurnbock953]

Very useful explanation - thank you! You mentioned also settings management - can you tell me, if you already found a good way to restore settings? It is very annoying, for example Word dictionary etc.

[@ashishpatel350]

Preferences preferences preferences

[@h4pz]

What's the difference between launch and pressing the windows key and typing what you are looking for?

[@ottersdangerden]

I will have to take a look at launchy, my install seems to not want to find any installed apps when searching. I have resorted to desktop icons again like wits windows xp

[@jeralgaming853]

Can you tell me one thing, Chocolatey GUI's feature "Show download progress" is not working for me

[@bdbgh]

You probably have to change the launchy hotkey since Alt+Space brings up the current focused window's context menu

[@nicksteffensmeier5776]

I did not know there were these things. This is so exciting!

[@Build5Nines]

It's interesting to see Microsoft building their own package manager for Windows. I'm curious how this will compare to Chocolatey eventually once we see a v1 release of the new 'winget' package manager. I've published an overview video of the new Windows Package Manager over on my channel.

[@adzyfootymad]

0:02 Oh no not your Nintendo Surface Book!

[@Level1Techs]

you can actually see it at the end, and why it is in fact a nintendo surface bool ;)

[@vicviper319]

oh that twilight zone reference. We

[@DecoyOps]

Thoughts on Wox + Everything plugin vs Launchy?

[@unclealig]

nice vid. how can i change install options (for example some installers will have a ticked checkbox to install yahoo startpage; or i will have the options to check/uncheck file extensions to be connected with the software to be installed; or other install options...)

[@shabuddinkhan9699]

nice usage explanation for Chocolatey.. Thanks..

[@nerdacs]

Despite just having left Ubuntu for Manjaro, Synaptic still holds a place in my heart. But yeah, Microshaft should look at the experience of apt, dnf, pacman, yum, and zypper (I think I got most of the major binary package managers on Linux) for inspiration about how to do a package manager/software store.

[@b4mvt]

With this and Ninite, I should have all things covered. installing Chocolatey now.

[@Infigo96]

How comes the 920 and not a Thinkpad?

[@dycedargselderbrother5353]

I keep portable versions on Dropbox to both have it available after a reformat and to avoid constantly updating on multiple computers.

[@ped-away-g1396]

does it solve the registry junk problem?

[@winsucker7755]

Why would I use vanila Launchy vs windows key (you know, just pressing windows key, type and then press enter)?

[@Mythricia1988]

I use both Windows and Linux on a daily basis, and although I will still maintain that for most people, Windows allows you to do a lot, very easily, and has much better support for the kinds of things the average user does (including myself in my free time). But I also have to admit that I feel a little jealous every time I type sudo apt install and seeing it just magically happen in front of me on Linux. It is a magical thing, and it works remarkably well. The whole dependency tree being installed for you, and more importantly (this is something that just flat-out does not happen on Windows), seeing dependencies removed when the root application is removed is also amazing. I don't think I would survive for long if I had to have Linux on my main machine as my main OS, but I hope that one day, it will have the hardware and software support that Windows has. It's good these days compared to what it used to be, but it's still a far cry from the genuine plug & play that Windows allows. Plus, I think Linux also suffers from the whole "Everything is equally hard to do" problem - you can do very complex and powerful things on Linux, and it's not all that hard - but it's also too hard to do very simple things, like ... something as trivial as creating a desktop shortcut. It should not be that hard, on ANY desktop distro. But it is. On the contrary, doing simple things in Windows is, as it should be, simple - but doing complex things on Windows is fucking atrociously difficult and inconsistent and broken. This dichotomy is why Windows still exists, yet it's also why Windows is still horrible as a power user.

[@Mutation666]

Love the volume of people trying to get this numbers up

[@Najvalsa]

I used Chocolatey a year or two ago to install SnippingTool++ and it was neat. Engagement.

[@sondreavik5337]

LOL I was gonna comment about Ninite, God damn you've got 20/20 foresight!

[@toastymuffin4153]

Ending was great, one of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes. Least you still have your glasses =D

[@srmunir]

Thank you so much for this!! Please do the preferences video too

[@dontpokethebear3893]

been using this for a while, it's a life saver.

[@Baxtexx]

6:00 Yeah I really HATE this with W10. The Windows key/start meny search was incredible useful, now it's super slow and almost never finds what I want anymore.

[@Ender06]

They can pry windows 7 out of my cold dead hands....

[@RaydeusMX]

Same.

[@btw111]

agreed!

[@DeathBringer769]

I hope they keep the forceful prying off for at least a few more years, lol... Lots of business that only need the computer to do one or two specific tasks like the older, more stable, unchanging OSes. Don't have to worry about a random patch or update breaking stuff. There's a reason you often see giant machinery still running off an old PC running XP, lol.

[@sauron1427]

As if windows 7 wasn't just as bad with managing software...

[@josh223]

Sauron maybe but ive never had a windows 7 update break windows or undo my preferences

[@nicksteffensmeier5776]

What do you mean by the computer starts spazzing out from third-party software?

[@whatiskensworth]

Oh this is what I've been looking for. Thanks!

[@coder0xff]

O.M.G. that ending!

[@INVAZOR33]

so engaged

[@dontpokethebear3893]

Why yoga instead of thinkpad?

[@DemitriX.]

memepad xd

[@adliikhwan280]

or even a ThinkPad Yoga?

[@0M9H4X_Neckbeard]

Yea I don't get it either. All Lenovo laptops that are not ThinkPads have terrible build quality, software/drivers and support. ThinkPad T-series are the only laptops worth consideration unless you're only gonna use it for Facebook

[@QuickQuips]

Yeah, it's weird. T and P series Thinkpads are solid (I had a T420 and use a P51 for work). Cmd.exe admin and cup all -y is not bad for getting lots of stuff at once.

[@MisterProducts]

Can you make video on the best linux distro for chromebooks and how to install, I got stuck with one?

[@MrBiky]

As a *Level1* sysadmin without GPO access, I have a hard time updating apps, as my superiors are busy with other stuff. I don't use a package manager on the PCs I maintain, I am the package manager. I -hunt- search for installers myself (preferably .msi files, thanks God that Frontmotion Firefox exists) and update my silent installer batch file myself. Then I just update the apps on some PCs that I get to remote into by running the .bat file, if somebody has problems. I keep file versioning in log files on the PCs, so the batch file knows what to update. Wish I would have my privileges elevated, it would make my life a heck of a lot easier and with more peace of mind.

[@danielkleins]

Best twilight reference ever

[@Kingtographer]

Awesome video, thanks for the information!

[@spiceyfrenchtoast9421]

Isn't it the BASH feature supposed to make it better

[@lohikaarme]

What is that windows update script? I need that script! I didn't know that was even possible..

[@AlexDisibio]

I tried chocolatey a long time ago and it seemed terrible to me. Maybe it has made a lot of progress since then. Maybe I should give it another look. Thanks for reminding me to do so.

[@NotRealNamesAgain]

Neat. My Surface Pro 3, Ryzen 7, Ryzen 5, and shitty old Lenovo all run Linux though. #LinuxMasterRace RIP your Surface, buddy. Pressing F to pay respects right now.

[@IceCream42]

Reygle F

[@Vasboch]

Got a friend custom making a version of windows. It has none of this bull.

[@techknowbabble]

Hey Wendell maybe you could help me even after a year and watching this video i still have difficulty understanding the value of a Package manager. I installed Fedora months ago to get better performance with Houdini and Blender and i ended up removing it because of my difficulty using and not being able to work around the Package manager to install software. I can see that they run but i do not know where they are installing or even choose where they install to and they only seen useful for installing off the internet. I keep all my important program installs and drivers on a separate hard drive (i own over 15 so i have the space(i'm a filmmaker)) so that i do not have to wait for a download off the internet, or if the internet speed is slow that day or not working at all or i'm in a remote location i can still install Adobe, Ableton or what ever program i need to wok in. I often wipe and reinstall windows every 4 to 5 months to keep it running as fast as possible and i hate spending time reinstalling software. What am i missing with Package Managers or is my use case only unique to me and should stick to windows?

[@annihilatorg]

pfft, just package everything in your local hydrated hyper-v SCCM instance and deploy with a task sequence! You're up and running in 3-5 days, tops. For real though, my only issue with choco is it's usage of shims. While functionally similar to the native installed application, I'm old and like .exes to be in their folders.

[@sashawinters2177]

after installing and setting up the config file of an application you export the settings, after reeinstalling or new installation you just import the settings file. i don't get it, in what way is linux managing the config files better than windows? so whats the deal?

[@pordzio]

Regarding ninite: paid version does that automatically. The installer automatically downloads latest version, so running it fter a while will install updated version of software

[@Kresh42]

Need an "In the Arms of an Angel" NES Surface Book montage.

[@pluraltest9242]

important stuff starts at 5:16

[@photosbyian]

Boiler snake demands engagement!

[@RafalBorowski]

If you could show some automation with this so it installs everything after Win install with options etc. with one command/script why not, but now... IDK man... Plus I guess one would have to unsinall all things one has to then reinstall them with choco right?

[@multipurposepaperbox]

Wendell has really become a great host

[@Simon74]

What happend to your Surface Book? I own one and now i‘m scared :o

[@crazzzik]

Please mention Unchecky if you gonna do more of these. It unchecks toolbars and other crap inside software installers. Being a power user, it still catches onto something that I miss from time to time.

[@PcGameHunter]

Literally started using it, it's incredible I reinstall Windows all the time, because it tends to break something, most often involving settings, language packs or dll patches for themes or a combination of those [Or windows update, the worst update system I've ever seen]. With this I save like an hour+ of work. It installs DirectX, runtimes [VC, Java, etc.], tools [From 7zip to bulk rename utility], most browsers [Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Chromium,...] and most other software tends to be available just have to look up the package name on their site, probably has a cmd for it, but I'm too dumb to do it that way. You just run the install script and then you can make one huge .bat file to run install on all the things you always need in one go and it'll do it for you. Don't care how dangerous that is, windows will likely break before it can do harm. Highly recommend it to anyone who does windows installs frequently or just wants something to auto-update the apps like linux can. Great video Wendell 👍 I can't wait for the settings management video, haven't done that yet. Also did Wendell say Nintendo Surface Book :D ? Is that why it has the detachable keyboard .... everything makes sense now.

[@timtomnec]

I love these kinda of vids.

[@sukidable]

Jesus, I wish I'd known about this when I was doing a bunch of windows installs/reinstalls for myself as well as family/friends. I'd gotten to where I'd just made a command line script for silent installing the essential stuff like 7zip while still having to keep all the installer files up to date manually. This is muuuch easier. Could even just add that powershell command to the post-install commands in NTlite.

[@Brutaltronics]

I got an ad guys! AAAAND... I'm engaging, which is also very important. You know it is, so...yeh

[@karlminton3257]

In my work I end up using Mac, Windows and Linux - so it's pretty useful to know about this.

[@XWB458]

whats the diff between this and oneget?

[@GaryEwanPark]

OneGet is a Package Manager Manager. OneGet itself doesn't actually install anything. Instead, it shells out to different Package Managers (what it calls Providers) to do the actual installation of the software. Chocolatey is one of the Providers that can be used alongside OneGet.

[@GobblesPlays]

Such engagement

[@mainfighter]

I don't think I've ever had windows turn settings back on, weird. Maybe I'm just lucky.

[@ats1995]

I might look into this, but for now and the past while I've focused on more linuxy things and networking and not touched my windows gaming machine more than necessary. This might be a tool worth having in my belt though.

[@sayydo1]

great video ,used ninite to download all apps that ineed and Kaspersky updater to keeps all apps up to date ;)

[@ETILHK54]

My start menu covered in dust.

[@wil7vin]

Thanks for the tip!

[@nathanlowery5361]

Amazing as always. Will save hours